Afterthoughts
by Filosofie
Summary: On the last page of Asterix and the Actress, we see Asterix lost in thoughts. What was he thinking of? Did Latraviata trigger a bachelor crisis? Or was it something else? A two-shot on a single picture,alternative take on what we think to know already. :
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer:I own no characters in this story. They are all from Albert Uderzo and Réné Goscinny. I just toy with their minds :)_

_I use the original French names, since I'm most used to them._

_Idéfix: Dogmatix_

_Panoramix: Getafix_

_Falbala: Panacea_

_I will add more if they turn up in the second chapter_

_P.S. This is my very first fanfic, so reviews are much appreciated!_

Travelling without magic potion was a bore. Even when the voyage from Condatum to their village was really nothing compared to the world-spanning journeys they made on a regular basis, it still seemed to take forever. Tragicomix held the ropes, Obelopalix and Astronomix on the other hand provided comments about every interesting Inn (good beers) and nice restaurant (roasted boar) on such a regularly basis that even Obelix seemed to lose his appetite. This left very little to do for the two warriors other than watching the scenery. Asterix was happy enough to see his father again. Astronomix looked at the Romans from another point of view, essentially a warrior's but without disregarding the benefits that came from the organization of the roman empire. And because he lived in Condatum, he was more up to date about every day live in this empire.

Asterix realized more than usual that his own views on the Romans were getting colored by the fact that he usually only saw them when he needed to repair the occasional chaos caused by an in general quite organized civilization.

But this wasn't what occupied him when Obelix noticed his pensive mood, while they were both sitting on the edge of the carriage that guided them back home. They spent a few nights at Tragicomix' and Falbala's place while repairing the damage caused by the recent break-in in their fathers' shop. Since eight hands (especially potion-spiked ones) worked faster than four, they had decided to do a quick make-over for the entire house: getting rid of stocks from the shop that littered the attic, renewing the roof and even adding some typically Roman infrastructure for their mother's shared bath room.

It had been a while since Asterix had gotten a compliment about his plans from Obelix, but this idea had been brilliant. It made up a little for the disappointment that came from their lack enthusiasm to get married (thank you very much but no!), all the while proving that a lack of female influence didn't mean they had no homecare skills whatsoever. Compared to making peace between Sicilian tribes or building an Egyptian palace, this may have seemed a small accomplishment, but Asterix knew his mom could be more stubborn than a roman army on the move. He had good hopes to leave her speechless with this though.

The thorough make-over had not left enough room in the house for everyone to sleep there and so they had agreed to stay with their old-time crush. Rather longer than Asterix had hoped. He was suspicious of Obelix prolonging their stay by inventing new things to repair (or just creating damage by 'miscalculating' his own strength). This puzzled Asterix, because it was obvious that Obelix was worrying over the still missing Idéfix.

One evening, Tragicomix had invited Asterix outside to look at some horses he recently bought. He was demonstrating how to get the horses used to pulling a carriage together. Asterix watched for a while, then said good night to Tragicomix, who went to do a last inspection of the stables for the night.

Asterix walked back to the house on his own, lost in thoughts. Sure Tragicomix and Falbala were nice as ever, and usually he felt right at home wherever he stayed, but things were different now. Obelix was usually the one who blended in best, his unprejudiced and blunt but friendly behaviour created goodwill wherever they went, and they had lots of fun joking about the strange habits of their hosts together. But Falbala was nor strange, nor someone to joke about, Obelix missed Idefix ànd something else was off. Asterix couldn't put his finger on it, but their friendship was a little more awkward than usual, Obelix just a tad more polite and careful around him. It wasn't as if he was mad at Asterix, but...he seemed to take him less for granted than usual.

Which bothered Asterix, since he had no idea why...

There was a gap in his memory starting when he first went to ask Obelix to join him to Condatum, and ending where he woke up on a small rock in the middle of the sea. Of course something had to have happened to make him end up there.

But in all honesty, strange things happened when living in a village that thanked its existence to magic potion, and it was sometimes best not to linger over every odd thing that occurred there. You risked getting a little light-headed if you tried to outreason magic potion. However, it was after this episode that Obelix' started to behave differently towards him.

Simply asking Obelix what was up proofed to be no good, since he was quite touchy about the subject. They had argued about whether to go to Condatum (and leave fake-Falbala behind), made up like always and that was supposed to be that. Only it wasn't really.

"Since when did I start overanalyzing things like this?" Asterix wondered. "Since I have too much time and nothing live-threatening to solve," he answered for himself. It was usually Obelix who complained about new adventures not coming their way fast enough. Asterix liked some peace and quiet from time to time, and he wasn't easily bored. He found interest in many things, like Getafix' experiments, the changes in the forest, just following the interaction of his fellow villagers. But it was no fun when his own interactions became a source of trouble!

By now, he had walked the short distance from the barn back to the main house, and he found himself right in front of the side entrance. He had left Obelix there after dinner, Obelix had said he wanted to return to the shop and replace one of his 'life- sized' menhirs more up front; so the passers-by could see his 'real' work. There was little point in Asterix coming with him to help; without the magic potion, he simply couldn't carry a menhir. Nor could any potential customer.

Just when his hand touched the knob of the door, he heard Falbala's voice coming from inside the house: "When did you last see him then?" Almost instinctively Asterix retreated, peering through the window. Sure enough, Falbala and Obelix were still seated at the dinner table. There was a scraping sound of the chair over the floor, which Asterix recognized as a typical gesture Obelix made when he was nervous over something. "Just after the last...well I was with Asterix and then...and then he was there and then after that he was gone."

"...Ok then," Asterix thought, "If Falbala manages to make sense out of that, thumb up for her." He had no clue what Obelix wanted to say. It was quite clear that they were talking about Idefix, but otherwise...

Falbala just ignored the vague explanation: "Yeah, but where were you then, in the forest? A Roman camp? Were you already on your way to Condatum?"

"No....just in the village. Besides, Idefix even found us in a pyramid once, he doesn't get lost!"

"Sure, but when he was in the village, then you maybe just missed him when you were leaving? He knows you'll return, so wouldn't he just wait there?"

"He was gone the day before we left. I've been calling him. And to miss dinner..."

"Yeah, of course who does that?" Asterix thought a bit irritated. "And where was I during all this searching activities? After all, when Idefix takes off, he usually just stays with me? I you had asked me, you might even have noticed I was behaving a little different form usual."

Falbala seemed to agree on the first part of his thoughts "He usually stays, with Asterix a lot too, doesn't he? Didn't he go with him?"

The scraping sound again. "No, hum he stayed with me. But maybe he got fed up with... with me." Obelix almost whispered the last part. Falbala leaned in a bit and Asterix had to step closer to make out what she was saying next: "Fed up?" she asked softly. "Yeah, um, well we were kind of... arguing a lot. I didn't want to leave you at the village. Not that you were ever there of course, but if you had been...If me or Asterix aren't there it's just..." Obelix did not finish, but Falbala knew what he meant this time, and so did Asterix."It's just not as safe," she finished, in a quiet but quite affirmative tone.

Asterix was suprised. He always thought that he and Panoramix were the only ones who really took this in. But it was true, they left the village in danger every time they went on their journeys, and sometimes, when they were doing something silly like chasing herbs for a stupid ragout that really bothered him. Also, why did he propose to go looking for Tragicomix without Falbala in the first place? She was behaving a bit strangely (not like uhm herself), but not unwell. And to ask Obelix to leave her behind again, when she just arrived at the village asking specifically for him, was that not just...too much? No wonder he had disagreed to that, and maybe rightly so. It was just not a very good idea. "I should have realized that, or at least have talked it through", he thought, feeling somewhat guilty.

Falbala leaned in a bit closer again, putting her hand on Obelix' arm. His startled reaction was a little less amusing given the situation. She had a smile in her voice when she spoke: "Really Obelix, you and Asterix, you kind of bicker all the time. I'm sure Idefix is used to that. I know I am. You guys are a bit tiring sometimes but usually it's just kind of cute."

The scraping intensified, and Asterix started to wonder how much longer Falbala's furniture would hold Obelix' fidgeting.

"It wasn't ... 'cute' this time", Obelix started, and it was his turn to lower his voice. "We...I we were really fighting."

There was a pause from Falbala."I stil don't see how...' she started, and suddenly Obelix cut right through her words. "I HIT him," he exclaimed miserably, "I HIT ASTERIX". There was a loud bang, as Obelix let his head fall to the table, and both Falbala and Asterix jumped back in surprise.

"Oh", she said weakly, seemingly at a loss for words. Then the full implication of Obelix hitting someone started to sink in."OH....oh my' Falbala felt a little nauseous when she realized why Asterix had a gap of more than a day in his memory. A slap from Obelix permanently stopped a Roman from attacking him, but when you realized how strong he really was, you knew he was holding back everytime he fought the Romans. They would not remember to be frightened next time if he didn't. "He must have been very very angry, to get to the point of actually hitting Asterix full-force, and it must not have been a pleasant experience."

Asterix felt like he was being hit in the chest right now. It dawned on him why he had lost his memory, and how lucky he was to have made a full recovery; there were bunches of roman soldiers who had seen their vocabulary limited to "mwah" forever by Obelix holding back on them. He felt really quite upset "He hit me? Just how mad whas he then? Obelix never hits me. What on earth did I say or do to make him that angry?

Falbala had said nothing for quite while now

"I'm so sorry Obelix," she finally said. "You must have felt terrible. But he's ok now though. And you made up so…maybe you should let that go"

"But he doesn't know, Falbala. You know that Asterix had this amnesia-thing and he doesn't even remember talking to me, let alone how it ended. And then we talked and we-sort of made up, but he was behaving strangely. I didn't realize it was the amnesia-thing so we started fighting AGAIN, and then Asterix hit ME, and after that Idefix disappeared. So I think he just got sick of me, and I can't blame him, but I just miss him so much. I really messed up, first with Asterix, than with Idefix…

Obelix said all this with his head hidden in arms, so it sounded quite muffled. Falbala rose from her chair and walked over to him. She put her hands on Obelix' shoulders, getting no visible reaction this time. "He is really, really miserable about this," she thought.

"Look Obelix, this is what we're gonna do. The shop is finished, so we can go to the village tomorrow. Tragicomix and I will come with you, we'll have a chance to visit my parents and I can help you looking for Idefix. I'm quite confident that he'll just be waiting though. In the mean time, talk to Asterix!"

"But Falbala, he'll be really mad! And he's the only best friend I have" Obelix obviously had not been planning to tell Asterix about this for a long time. But Falbala was uncompromising "And as your best friend, he knows something is not right and he is worried. Besides I think he's quite worried not knowing what caused his amnesia."

"Yeah, me too," Obelix said thoughtfully, "I whish I had been there when it started."

Falbala was perplexed. Asterix hit his forehead with his hand. "leave it to Obelix to miss the most obvious link in the entire story," he thought. "On the other hand, maybe it's a good thing he did, he'd just feel even more miserable."

So when Falbala made an attempt to explain the connection between there quite literal fighting and Asterix losing his memory, the latter one hastily yelled "Yeah, good night Tragicomix! See you in the morning!" and barged in. No need to cry over spilled potion

Obelix jumped up in surprise, sending the stool he was sitting on all across the room. "Ah huh Asterix we were just ah see we were…" he was fidgeting, turning red and stuttering at the same time, no doubt wondering if Asterix overheard their little chat.

"We were just saying that it would be nice to return to the village and look for Idefix" Falbala said, searching Asterix' face for something. Did she notice he had been listening in? He flashed them both a confident (and hopefully warm) smile and replied "Excellent idea Obelix, I' ve been missing him too. Let's leave early then." He yawned "Well, better go to bed then, we have to clean up the shop a bit before we leave, so it's really spotless even in our mams' opinions."

Obelix sighed in relief and was no good in hiding it. He seemed to realize, cause he turned quite abruptly and murmered: "Right…go to bed…yes, Good night Falbala!" and then he was marching up the stairs, heading for the spare room he shared with Asterix.

Just as Asterix turned to follow Obelix, he noticed the blond woman was staring at him from across the room, a questioning look on her beautiful face.

"Does she realize I was…"just as the thought started to form in his mind, he saw a change in her expression. His somewhat guilty face confirmed her suspicion that he had been listening in on the conversation. However, before he could say anything, her blue orbs silenced him. Yes, women could be disturbingly talkative, but they also mastered the art of conveying entire messages with a single look. Falbala tilted her head towards the stairs. "Follow him, talk to him," was what she said without words. Asterix quietly wished her good night, and went upstairs, his head brimming with questions, answers and not a clue on how to formulate them.

This was two days ago, and they did not talk yet. Asterix knew by now that is was really necessary, Obelix continued to be jumpy around him, and he didn't talk about missing Idefix as much as he usually would. They lost a bit of what made them life-time best friends. Obelix did not want to talk out of fear of doing even more damage so it was up to Asterix to start the conversation that was supposed to make everything ok again.

But he still had a lot of questions left. He must really have hurt Obelix by what he said during their fight. It was hard to apologize for something you didn't remember. The idea of Obelix hitting him was not nice, it was kind of a black page in the book of their friendship. However, you needed two people to fight, and he knew he could get quite rude when he was irked. It kind of bothered him that Obelix felt this bad over the whole thing, especially when he didn't even realize the full consequences of the "fight". Obelix was way more sensitive than Asterix, and if he did not handle this conversation carefully, he was sure to leave some unresolved issues in the mind of his large best friend.


	2. Chapter 2

Names:

Obelodalix: Obeliscoidix

Agécanonix: Geriatrix

Ordralfabétix : Unhygenix

Abraracourcix : Vitalstatistix

Assurancetourix: Cacofonix

Praline : Sarsparilla

Their return had not gone unnoticed. Assurancetourix had seen them coming, and tables were being placed in a usual circle for the usual welcoming/celebration party. Conveniently they arrived quite close to dinner time (like always). The villagers had already gathered, partly to welcome Obelix and Asterix and hear their story. But most of the attention went to Astronomix and Obelodalix this time. Certainly since the they did not waste any time and immediately started to recall the events in Condatum, colored by a lot of 'booms!' 'cracks!' and 'bafs!'

Usually Panoramix just stood back a little, listening to Asterix and Obelix while they did their story to the villagers. Later, during the feast, or the next day, he took his time to reminiscence with Asterix over the little details of their adventures. But this time, Panoramix just appeared out of nowhere, grabbed Asterix'and started to drag him towards his hut. Quite surprised by this hasty behavior, Asterix still managed to avert Obelix, who followed them immediately. He had been searching the little crowd for Idefix, but he had not spotted the little dog. With a growing feeling of dread, he followed them to Panoramix' hut, hesitating at the door. Panoramix did not like to have him around his potions, and he made no secret of it.

Inside, Panoramix released his grip on Asterix and started firing questions at him.

"How are you?"

"Hum, fine I guess?"

"Did the amnesia return?"

"No..."

"Any dizziness?"

"No but..."

"Did you remember what happened?"

"That is to say...I did not remember, but I guess…"

Panoramix waved his hands, impatiently. "I need a story!" "Now! your mother is killing me. She's been advising everyone to not drink any potions. Her latest theory is that some of my ingredients must have gone bad. Ageacenoncix has literally been sniffing his coughing potion for hours, before he finally drank it. We will just run out of magic potion due to my lack of time to brew any!"

As well as he realized who terrifying his mother could be when she was making a point or looking for answers, Asterix wasn't about to give his new realizations away. "I hit my head or something, I guess. Like I told you, I don't remember."

Before Panoramix could argue, the door of the hut swinged open, and a little red and black-dressed woman rushed in. She grabbed Asterix and hugged him tightly, before keeping him at arm's length to start her own investigation."How are you? Have you been eating well? Did Falbala solve things with Tragicomix?" She tightened her grip on his arms with every question.

"Dad's back. He knows."Asterix just managed to interrupt her before she got to think of any more questions. His mother narrowed her eyes slightly. She was weighing the obvious escape route versus the possibility to get more information out of her husband. "I'll be back" she finally sniffed, turning on her heels.

Asterix turned back to Panoramix and started to ask something, but Praline (already past the door) overtuned him: "And don't you dare to leave the village without my permission again!"

For a few moments, Panoramix and Asterix just stood still, saying nothing. Asterix was just waiting to see if his mother had really taken the bait. If she did not see Astronomix in the next twenty seconds, she might just as well change her mind and return. Finally, Panoramix seemed to have collected his usual composure and asked, quite more steadily than before: "You were saying?" Asterix glanced at the door, where Obelix was still waiting. However, he was now peering through the window, looking in every corner. But Idefix was not in Panoramix' hut, that much was clear. Asterix motioned for Obelix to come inside, which he hesitatingly did.

"I was asking if you saw Idefix while we were away."

Panoramix smiled his trademark all-knowing smile. He slowly straightened up, taking his time to answer. Asterix already felt there was nothing to worry about. He simply knew Panoramix too well to misjudge."As a matter of fact, I did. And don't worry, he's fine." Panoramix answered finally while walking over to Obelix and placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Just busy. Yes quite busy." Obelix looked doubtful, so Panoramix added: "Don't worry, he'll turn up around dinner this evening. But now you boys have to go, I have potions to brew and a story to think up. Astronomix will not hold Praline's attention forever, especially when little Rixikins is concerned." He sent Asterix a reproachful, almost dirty look and Asterix took it as their final queue. Soon Panoramix would start questioning him again, and he was definitely not in the mood for that.

"Let's get going Obelix" he said briskly, and marched out. He threw Panoramix a short, apologetic look over his shoulder. "I'll see you at the feast" "Yeah, yeah," Panoramix still did his best to look grumpy, but smiled a little behind his beard. He did not doubt Asterix' marital status would become the main concern of his slightly over-caring mother soon enough. His own problems were almost over.

Asterix and Obelix walked through the village and observed their fathers from a distance. Most of the villagers had followed them and they now sat together on a bench, enjoying cold beers and making wide gestures to accompany their stories. "There will be nothing left to tell tonight," Asterix remarked. He set course to his own hut, but stopped when he saw that Obelix did not follow. "Hum, do you want to come? Or maybe you 'd rather join the others? I just wanted to check that mam did not refurnish everything while I was away..." He was slightly rambling, cause he just noticed he had not asked Obelix' opinion once again.

"Well..." Obelix was not looking at him, scraping his foot over the ground slightly. "I actually wanted to run by the quarry, the house...maybe Idefix is there anyway..." He looked quite sad and did not seem to believe it himself. Asterix realized that Idefix not coming too greet him when he wàs in the village was a huge disappointment for Obelix. He had been a little put off himself, mainly because he knew Obelix would be sad and blame himself. But also because he just enjoyed Idefix' little company too. Still, he knew that Panoramix would never lie about something like this. If he said Idefix was fine, he was, and it was just up to the two Gauls to convince the black and white dog they were good company. Idefix love Obelix dearly, he was totally sad when his big friend was away or too busy to play with him. He'd get by soon enough.

"But all this, how can I tell Obelix, when officially I did not even know that Idéfix could have a reason stay away" he thought frustrated. Finally, he chose to take action, which he usually did when problems were at hand: "Good, I'll help you look if that's okay?" Obelix seemed a little surprised by the questioning tone. "I wanted to look around at the quarry and my place and then maybe ask some of the children, you know, the ones that come to play with Idefix after school." Obelix did not sound very hopeful. "Good idea, I'll check with Abraracourcix, Agecanonix and Cétautomatix," Asterix answered. He turned and started to walk towards his hut again, eager to take action. "You know Obelix, if Panoramix says we will see him during the feast, I'm sure we will." Obelix nodded, and threw him a small smile before getting on his way too. Asterix felt somewhat less confident then he had tried to sound, and secretly cursed Panoramix' vagueness. "I sure hope I'm right this time," he thought, while he opened the door of his house, which looked almost like it always did (yes!), except from the flowers his mam put on the table.

Finally they did not see Idefix at all, but everyone they questioned said that, yes they had seen Idefix, and that he was certainly all right but no they had no idea where he was right now. So Obelix was somewhat reassured by the time they gathered for the feast and even started on his dinner quite eagerly. They chatted with the others, had a few drinks. Obelix was just starting his second wild boar when a small girl with blond pigtails and a bright blue dress walked up to them and tapped Obelix" shoulder. Asterix immediately realized this was one of Idefix little fans. She flashed both of them a radiant smile, clearly showing her two missing front teeth, and declared "I'fix is coming!" She stretched out her little finger and pointed behind them. Obelix dropped his wild boar with a loud thud (splashing some food onto a somewhat irritated Agecanonix) and both he and Asterix turned on their chairs simultaneously. Then their eyes went wide, because over the grass, not one, but seven dogs were approaching!

Like little white and grey dots, five miniscule puppies darted behind their parents, jumping and tumbling over each other every few steps. Obelix seemed to have turned into one of his own menhirs. Only when Idefix stopped a few meters in front of them and gave his owner an enthusiastic bark, he returned to life, walking forwards and falling on his knees just before the little dogs. He extended his arms carefully, and Idefix dashed forwards to jump into them. This encouraged the little puppies, who ran forward and gave little high barks while attempting to climb onto Obelix. Obelix seemed to lack hands, trying to pet them all at the same time.

Asterix walked over to the small grey dog with fluffy tail who was clearly the puppy's mother. She watched from a little distance, somewhat hesitant. Asterix kneeled and extended one hand. She walked over little by little, and finally sniffed carefully. Eventually, she seemed to decide that the blonde little warrior was no threat, and brushed one of his knees, allowing him to stroke the soft grey fur. Asterix glanced at Obelix just in time to see him look at them in pure delight, with the most brilliant smile Asterix had seen in weeks, maybe even months. "Asterix, Puppies!" he squeaked. One of the pups that resembled their mother was trying to jump at his pigtails, and hung onto to black ribbon in them when she succeeded. "Yes, I see!" Asterix answered, laughin, and he walked forward to remove the bold female puppy from Obelix' hair.

After a good while of enthusiastic playing with the puppies, the small group of young children retreated, only to emerge moments later carrying a set of baskets, furnished with brightly colored cushions. "We made tham fo' the puppies, and thei' mommy" the small blonde girl declared. "Like the one you made fo' I'fixie." She turned one of the baskets so Obelix and Asterix could see the front. There was an empty wooden plate on the front of the basket, and Asterix realized this was supposed to become a name tag. "But we left the name tags open so you could pick names," one of the other children confirmed.

Obelix was so busy wiping away tears that threatened to leak from his eyes, that he couldn't seem to think of a reply. But it didn't matter, cause the children beamed with pleasure: their little plan had worked brilliantly. They started to carry the baskets back to Obelix' hut, and he followed them with Idefix and four of the puppies in his arms. The little grey dog ran forward, probably to inspect the new baskets and see if they were suited for her little v.i.p's. (very important puppies). Asterix followed, carrying the small female puppy that he had plucked from Obelix' hair before. She seemed to have decided that the wings on his helmet were the most interesting thing in the world, for she had not given up her attempts to molest them ever since. Only now, sleep was slowly winning, and she dozed on his arms, half-heartedly raising her front paw from time to time.

When all of the puppies were in their respective baskets, Asterix wanted to leave quietly, but Obelix stopped him with a large hand on his shoulder. "Where are you going," he whispered. "We still need to find names!" Asterix smiled and went back in. The female dog followed him, and when he sat down close to the fire, she jumped on his lap. Obelix had some difficulty to tear his gaze from the puppies, but finally pulled them something to drink and sat down beside Asterix. Stroking Idefix, he murmured: "we should name them after some of the people we met while we were on adventure," he declared. "But that one will be called Fleur," he said, pointing at one of the female puppies. This was the name of the lispling girl in the blue dress. "Since the other one has clearly declared her never-ending love for you, you should name her." He gave Asterix a playful, very measured poke that still brought him out of balance.

Asterix felt like the atmosphere had finally cleared between them. "Starting on our fight now, while everything seems ok, might be unnecessary," he argued inwardly. "And, uncomfortable, which is why I'm trying to postpone it. But who knows what will happen tomorrow. Even if adventures don't poke up, we still have moms to run from, and mine will not rest before she has a satisfying explanation on what happened." Asterix had no intention of telling her the truth, but if he and Panoramix made up one story and Obelix another one, they were dead meat. And more importantly, their last argument was bound to come up sooner or later. Asterix had sometimes twisted or softened the truth for Obelix, but he had never lied to him. The only brave thing to do was to talk things out now, while he had the chance. "First things first", he thought, and taking a deep breath he started: "Ok, but I can't think of one right away. She's quite a character." Obelix seemed to have some sort of epiphany, and snickering he said "I know one, let's call her Bravura! I'd love to hear you call her for dinner." He burst out laughing but quickly sobered when he noticed Asterix' dark look. "Ok, ok, it's your pick," he said hastily, and he turned to get them another drink (though their mugs were still half-full).

They were silent for just a few moments and Asterix felt he could no longer postpone. "Hum Obelix, I still owe you an apology. Two in fact. Well, three I guess," he counted things out quickly and felt less and less comfortable. Obelix had turned around, surprised. He obviously had no idea where Asterix was going with this. "You know, before we…left Condatum, when I proposed to leave "Falbala" in the village. That was not a good idea. I realize that now, but I should have just listened to you in the first place."

Obelix eyes went a little wider. "So did you remember … our conversation?" He was obviously not ready to have his own confession about their fight.

"No, I.." deciding half a truth would not only make things worse but also made him an apology short, Asterix did not use any excuses: "I listened at the door while you and Falbala were talking about Idefix, the night before we left Condatum". He looked at Obelix guiltily when he received no immediate reply. Obelix' face slowly reddened, first just from Falbala's name, then, with a flaring temper, from the listening at the door part. After that, the full impact of the message started to sink in as he recalled what had been said. "uh ow…" he said weakly, supporting his face with his hands and trying to look for words that did not come. Asterix took the opportunity to rush forward with what he still had left to say: "I'm sorry for listening in on you, but you were behaving strange ever since we left and I just could not remember for the world. I still don't, but anyway, it doesn't matter, you could have just told me."

Obelix looked so surprised that the fear on his face vanished "Doesn't matter… Of course it matters!" he yelled, making the puppies stir in their sleep and the grey female threw him a reproachful look, jumping up and walking over to the baskets.

"Of course it matters," he repeated again, whispering this time. "Yeah", Asterix whispered back, "So it wasn't nice for you to hit me," he said, ignoring Obelix' flinch for spelling it out so bluntly, "But I was wrong in the first place and knowing me quite unwilling to realize it. I'm sure I wasn't that nice either." He sounded almost questioning on the last part, hoping against hope that Obelix would say something that would make him remember. But Obelix was still busy muttering "Doesn't matter" under his breath. He stared at Asterix for some time, catching up with his words. Finally he replied, not whispering now, but sounding so quiet is almost seemed as if he was. "But I promised" Then he looked at the floor, obviously expecting Asterix to give a different reaction now. The little Gaul just got more and more irritated. The feeling he missed something here was overwhelming, and he was not used to that. "Look Obelix, I know this is getting old, but I don't REMEMBER!" This time Idefix looked at Asterix indignantly and he shut up in frustration. He had almost added "Because you beat me into memory loss!" but bit the comment back. Obelix felt guilty enough as it was. And maybe Obelix was right again; maybe it did matter. Because if he was really honest with himself, he did feel a bit hurt over what happened. He mainly wanted things to go back to usual, but still…he was just so used to be out of the range of Obelix' superhuman strength, even though it was a privilege not even Getafix could fully claim. He had flown a few meters from an over-friendly knock on his shoulders a few times, there had been some accidents when they were little. Sometimes Obelix just forgot his best friend was only half his height and size and did not have access to superhuman strength. Never ever however, Obelix' enormous strength was directly directed against him. Not even later on, when Asterix hàd access to magic potion. They never fought. Argued. Yelled until they were out of breath and words to say….but never fought.

"You don't remember the fight right after I fell into the magic potion? The one which we went to Panoramix' hut for in the first place?" Obelix looked at him in complete disbelief. "Yes of course," Asterix said automatically "I think I'm just completely missing your point." Obelix arched an eyebrow at this last comment, because it was unlike Asterix to miss a point, and complétely unlike him to admit it. But he started to explain from the beginning now. "The day before there was that fight between you and the others. Because I did not want to play the Roman" "Of course not," Asterix said "No one wanted to play the roman. But you never wanted to fight in the first place, so you had the right to refuse."

"Yeah well, the other ones didn't agree with you, and you totally got beaten up over it." "Excuse me, but I did not get 'all beaten up!'" Asterix felt quite belittled by that last statement. The eyebrow went higher this time, but Asterix continued "that was a nice fight." "You were covered in bruises for two weeks!" Obviously Obelix had a different definition of a 'nice fight'. One that left you undamaged and the opponent in scrambles. "The others looked a lot worse," Asterix moped. "The point was I did nothing and you paid the price for it" Obelix said. His tone was stern this time, the argument was over. Asterix let go about the fight itself, but he was surprised at how bitter the whole thing sounded from Obelix' perspective. "But we fought every day. About everything. That was just the whole point, if we sometimes had no bruises, it was because Panoramix forced us to study our ancestry in one week or something like that. Or because we had to help at home…" "If it was so much fun, then why did you stop participating in those fights after I fell into the magic potion," Obelix countered.

That wàs a good question. One with a good answer, but he had never tried to explain it to Obelix before. He wasn't sure he wanted to, but if Obelix felt that bad about it…. Before he had a chance to say anything, Obelix continued. "And it was your plan for me to learn how to defend myself. So I went along. And I did learn!" "You sure did," Asterix said. They were both silent for a moment, remembering.

Thatvery day, after Obelix was released from Panoramix' thorough examinations the other children had gathered. They had seen Panoramix fidget and worry, but unfortunately for them they did not realize that Obelix had just digested a cauldron of magic potion. Obelix had told Asterix to stand back. And he had been very glad he listened, because the moment he had set himself on the grass to watch the effects of the magic potion from as close as he had ever been able to, hell broke loose. Every other fight that had followed after that, and there hàd been quite a few, Obelix had held back on the others, who were, all things considered, his friends. But that day had been pay-back. The only luck the others had had was that Obelix was a really inexperienced fighter. Still there had not been any fights for the next three weeks, mainly because the others were limping, bruised so baldy they could, had their arms in slings or all of the above. Asterix had watched in complete fascination, not believing how much his friend had changed by falling into the magic potion, how he had been able to stand up for himself and how limitless his power was. From that day on, he had wanted to taste the magic potion himself; before he had not realized the benefit. Sure, you became stronger, but Asterix was used to not being the strongest of their group, and it had never really held him back. He was fast and quite smart, and being smaller than the others just made every fight a more interesting challenge. But Obelix' boundless confidence, his unlimited speed while he raced from opponent to opponent, fascinated him. He did want to experience that. What it felt like to just do whatever you want without having to think it over. It was not a desire he could discuss with Obelix. It was clear from the start that Obelix would not be allowed to drink the magic potion ever again. So this was Asterix' mission only. The problem was Panoramix could not prove, but knew almost certainly that Asterix had been involved in the little potion-tasting experiment. The other children feared his hut and his (acted) torn. Asterix thought both his hut and acting were fascinating. It had not been Obelix' idea to go and taste potion and Panoramix knew that. So he closed everything up twice as carefully and kept a firm eye on every set of potion he gave at the villagers. Partly because it was dangerous for Obelix to drink any more. Partly because he realized his favorite student only obliged rules when the benefits of disobeying them did not become too clear. Asterix had to regain Panoramix trust or so he had thought back then. By now he realized the potion had just been bait, a huge treat for studying twice as hard, learning to think before acting, look at every problem from different angles. They had been six, almost seven, when Obelix fell into the magic potion, and it had taken Asterix seven more years to prove himself. Finally he had tasted the magic potion the day both he and Obelix turned fourteen, two years before the others. But that was another story.

There were obviously two things he had overlooked in his youthful fascination. One, the fact that Obelix had thought Asterix did not want to have quarrels with his friends, and that the only reason he had ever participated in them, was to defend him. This was just not true. The main reason was that Panoramix had made no secret of his dislike for their fights. Asterix missed the opportunities to prove himself, maybe so much that he had wanted to become a warrior because of it even more.

The second was that Àsterix had always been convinced that gigantic fight was pay-back for the battering and bruising Obelix had suffered while trying to avoid battle altogether. He had never, ever realized it had been pay-back for hìm. Even now it seemed surreal and he wanted to be sure. "So, that whole fight, it was about mé?" He asked, half-expecting Obelix to deny it. "Of course, what else," Obelix looked like Asterix was being really really slow this time. "Ask Cétautomatix, Ordralfabetix… I'm sure théy will still remember that." Obelix made no trouble of hiding his satisfied smirk.

"Great, now I really feel like an idiot," Asterix thought. "Anyway you were quite impressed with the whole thing," Obelix continued, relishing his memories now "And you said something like 'Wow, I'll think twice about getting you angry now'." It was true, Asterix hàd said something like that, but was it really necessary to remember it word for word?

Apparently it was, because Obelix went on: "And then I said…" Suddenly his face fell, and he became completely serious again. For a moment, Asterix thought he would have to start guessing again, but Obelix took in a deep breath and continued. "I said 'No you don't. you're my best friend. No matter how angry you make me, I will never hit you. That's a promise.'"

Now Asterix remembered. Something he had forgotten over his whole fascination with the magic potion, but that he had known unconsciously. And finally he realized the full impact of their first literal fight. Asterix had never promised anything of the sort, there was just no need. Obelix could pinch him into one of the Roman camps with one finger if he wanted to. But without getting his memory back or having to think things over he knew exactly what he had said to make Obelix cross a line that he had drawn almost thirty years ago. "I called you fat," he said, and this time, there was no questioning tone in his voice. "I do not remember anything," he added quickly when Obelix face cleared a little instead of getting frustrated over the insult. "It's just that, well I never really promised out loud to… he paused, inwardly speaking to himself "Thin ice Asterix, you're walking on very thin ice right now." However, Obelix really wanted to hear what he had to say, because he just finished his sentence for him: "to not call me fat." Asterix nodded and continued: "but still it was a promise anyway. Especially with Falbala around…"

They sat in silence again. "Maybe we should just blame Latraviata and be done with it. She got off way too easy anyway." Obelix finally offered. "Well yes, that was dad." Asterix said quickly. "Funny, I do not recall Astronomix giving her that golden César thingy," Obelix said, poking him in the ribs again, but this time so softly that it was not harder than a usual poke. "Which was really ugly anyway, I do not blame you for wanting to get rid of it." "Well after all she did not want to attack us; she only wanted to get those arms." Asterix felt the need to defend himself, even if Obelix was clearly just teasing him. "Impersonating Falbala is a crime on its own." Obelix said firmly, "but I bet the smooch Latraviata gave you softened you up a bit." He had reached his goal now, Asterix had gone red after all.

"Yeah well, ANYWAY," Asterix said, and he knew better than to make any more come-backs. "I guess we could blame her this time. But maybe we should consider this a fresh start. I'll try to talk things over more and be less determined on being right about everything…" "And I'll try not to beat the crap out of you again" Obelix finished. "And maybe we should try to listen to Panoramix every now and then," Obelix added as an afterthought: "Less yelling, more talking." He was silent for a while. "No more promises then?" he asked cautiously. Asterix pondered it for a while. "Maybe we can make one…" he did not even finish, but Obelix face erupted into a large smile and he understood. Standing up he extended his hand to Asterix to pull him up. Putting an arm around his shoulder (which lessened the effect of being pulled up from the ground) "Well then, best friend forever, I'll walk you home. I'd offer for you to stay over, but Praline will go completely crazy if she can't fuss over you tonight.

Asterix slammed his forehead. "Well yes, I guess I can afford to lose one more verbal fight tonight." Obelix winked at him. "We have to hurry up, I think Bravura is waking up!" They were approaching Panoramix' house when Asterix retorted: "I'm telling you there is just NO way we are going to call that dog that way" "Oh, come ON," Obelix said, "just ADMIT it is a perfect name!" "Never!" Asterix almost hissed it now, but managed to stay calm just a little. "You can name the other three," Obelix offered "Oh Obelix, you've already got their names! Just get it over with and tell me what they are going to be. And that does NOT mean I give up on my right to name the little wing-biter." "That is not a right, it is a favor!" Obelix countered. Suddenly they spotted Panoramix throwing them both of them a reproachful look from the entrance of his hut. He planned to ad an all-knowing and wise remark. Before he had the chance to do so, Both Asterix and Obelix erupted into hysterical laughs. They both waved at him brightly and walked by, leaning on each as not to fall over from roaring with laughter. Panoramix could still hear them when they stopped at Asterix home. Slightly grumpy over missing the clue of why he had just become the funniest thing in the world, Panoramix turned back to his potions, preparing for a long night of catching up on them while muttering: "And still Obelix insists the Romans are the crazy ones in this story."

3


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